Action Line: Racquetball court taken for another weight room Published Feb. 24, 2015 By Col. Robert G. Novotny 48th Fighter Wing commander ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- COMPLAINT: From my understanding, the fitness center is planning to remove another racquetball court in order to expand the weight room/cross-fit room. I would like to request that leadership take into consideration the minority of us who do use the courts. Although I understand that the weight rooms may not be as large as some would desire, I do not feel the right solution is taking another court. The three courts we have now are usually full during the peak after work hours with Wally-ball and racquetball and it is already sometimes hard to get a court during this time. Many squadrons use these courts routinely and Wally-Ball is one our Sports Day events now. Both activities are a great way to build unit cohesion, have fun, and get a good work-out. In my opinion, although I am sure it would be nice to have more space, there will be little gain to the weight lifters by increasing the size of the weight room by only one racquetball court and it will not increase the number of people already using the weights. In contrast, it will prevent 1/3 of the court users from being able to participate in their activity that day. I do realize there are many more weight lifters than court users and the courts are often not in use during off hours, but I do not agree that the best way to appease the wants of the majority is to take from the minority. Perhaps leadership could look into other options, because once the court is gone, we will never get it back. RESPONSE: We still support a core of active racquetball players, however, the sport' s popularity has seen a dramatic decrease - by 50 percent - in the past 10 years. In contrast, the fastest-expanding activity over the same timeframe has been Cross Fit-like programs - by 43 percent. I remain committed to delivering a wide variety of quality fitness activities for our Airmen and their families. Based on the increased interest in strength and conditioning activities, we have initiated a project to retain two usable racquetball courts at the RAFL Fitness Center and expand another to accommodate the growing demand for weightlifting, powerlifting, etc. This is a decision based upon supply and demand. The demand for racquetball is waning while the demand for more room to work out is on the rise. I will speak with the Fitness Center staff to see if there are smarter ways of scheduling the courts, thereby allowing the racquetball players a chance to reserve courts or have blocked play periods. Let me get to work on that one and see what we can do. Thank you for sharing your concerns about our fitness center as we work to provide the best facility possible to meet the Liberty Wing's fitness demands. Col Rob Novotny _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Action Line is your direct link to the commander for complaints, suggestions or comments. It's not intended to replace the chain of command. When normal command agency channels haven't been able to resolve your concerns, e-mail action.line4@us.af.mil . You may remain anonymous; however, to receive a reply, please leave your name, unit, duty or home phone number and full APO mailing address.